Let's choose a date to marry the eldest princess.
In the solemn and dignified Hall of Supreme Harmony, all officials bowed their heads and closed their eyes, standing neatly on both sides of the imperial road according to their rank.
The emperor, sitting high on the dragon throne, had a calm expression on his face. He slowly glanced at His Highness Fu Xuechen, "My dear Fu...are you feeling better now?"
Fu Xuechen immediately stepped out, bowed, and spoke clearly and steadily throughout the hall: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your concern. I have recovered."
The emperor's gaze was as sharp as an eagle's, falling on the ambiguous red mark on his neck that was not completely covered by his collar.
A faint, ambiguous smile played at the corner of his lips. "Minister Fu is quite elegant. It seems that this time of 'illness' has not been wasted."
"In that case, I don't think you need to rest any longer. Your marriage to the eldest princess has been delayed for a long time. When you return from the disaster relief work in Qu County, we will choose a date for the wedding."
They had been planning for a long time and the time had finally come.
Fu Xuechen bowed his head respectfully, his voice steady and calm: "Your Majesty, I will obey your will."
After the court session, the eldest princess was already waiting in the Prime Minister's Mansion.
"Father has finally relented!" The eldest princess could hardly contain her excitement, her beautiful eyes gleaming like an eagle. "On the day of the wedding, all the officials will come to congratulate us, and the guards in the imperial city will surely relax. This is our only and best chance!"
Fu Xuechen hadn't wanted to go this far, but when he closed his eyes, he thought of the countless suffering civilians behind him who desperately needed to be saved, and the soldiers who had entrusted their lives to him...
Just thinking of Su Qingli made him feel a little uneasy.
He looked at the eldest princess with mixed emotions and said, "Your Highness, this wedding is the most convenient springboard for your grand ambitions. Once you succeed, please keep your promise, announce to the world, annul this marriage, and return my freedom."
The corners of the princess's lips curled up in a cold and understanding arc: "Of course, you have helped me achieve my great cause and have made great contributions. When the time comes, I will grant you a marriage and make Miss Su a couple."
"But I must remind you, Prime Minister, that once you've done this, there's no turning back. You have countless people who have entrusted their lives and even the future of their entire clan to you."
"I hope you won't... treat the lives of my thousands of soldiers as a joke."
Fu Xuechen's expression grew solemn. His voice was low, but every word carried great weight. "Your Highness, rest assured. I understand the heavy responsibility on my shoulders and will never treat the lives of thousands of soldiers as a joke."
…
In order to buy the pastry shop she liked as soon as possible, Su Qingli took the jade pendant given by Lin Zui and walked into the pawnshop without hesitation to exchange it for some money.
With all the savings he had saved from his frugal life, he rented a store on the outskirts of the city for a month.
He went to Xiaoxiang's house again and told her about his idea of opening a pastry shop and wanted to hire her as an assistant.
Xiaoxiang was extremely excited and held Su Qingli's hand. "Miss, of course I am willing to help. I won't charge you any wages. If the business is good in the future, you can give me some dividends."
Su Qingli was very touched. She knew that Xiaoxiang was considerate of her small business and was embarrassed to charge her for her work.
But she also knew that Xiaoxiang's life was not easy, so how could she possibly accept her kindness?
She said firmly: "No, if you help me, you must accept payment. You have a whole family to support."
Xiaoxiang thought of her incompetent husband and her hungry child, and nodded helplessly.
At the end, he did not forget to warn Su Qingli, "Miss, you must find a good man. Don't end up like Xiaoxiang, marrying the wrong man and suffering all your life. You don't know when you will finally have a happy ending."
"If you can't find love, it's not bad to find someone who treats you well."
If she could, she wanted to escape.
But she came from a humble background and had no say in anything, so she had no choice.
Su Qingli thought of Tan Xi, her eyes filled with complexity. Is he worthy of entrusting her life to?
After chatting with Xiaoxiang, Su Qingli returned home with a slightly tired step.
As soon as I stepped into the yard, an ambiguous sound was faintly heard from my mother's half-open door.
She stopped and froze in place, her face flushed. She walked back to her room as quickly as if she was running away and slammed the door shut.
She was exhausted after running around for several days and didn't have the energy to think too much. She fell asleep as soon as she touched the bed.
After a good sleep, Su Qingli slowly opened her eyes and found that it was late at night outside the window and everything was silent.
She got up quietly, picked up her clothes, and walked carefully to the toilet outside the house in the dark, intending to wash with cold water.
Just as I took off my coat, I suddenly heard a rustling noise outside the door, like something was dragging and rubbing.
She quickly put her clothes back on and opened the door to check.
Zheng Feng stood there stiffly, his face looking somewhat gloomy in the moonlight, his whole body revealing an indescribable sense of embarrassment and... something was wrong.
"What are you doing here?" Su Qingli's voice couldn't help but become a little harsher.
"I came here to relieve myself! I didn't expect to run into you, girl... ahem, I'm so abrupt, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Zheng Feng's voice was so unclear that it was almost inaudible.
Su Qingli's eyes suddenly fell on his trousers. When she saw the suspicious mark, a chill ran up her spine.
She quickly glanced at the dark and silent surroundings, and the strong Zheng Feng in front of her. They were an orphan and a widow, and it was the middle of the night, so it was obviously not a good time to expose him.
She hurriedly picked up her clothes and returned to the house with a sense of anger at being disturbed.
When the secret guard reported to Fu Xuechen in detail about Zheng Feng peeping at Su Qingli while she was washing herself in the toilet, the air in the study instantly dropped to freezing point.
His face was as gloomy as water. The jade ring he was playing with on his finger was crushed to pieces with a snap. "Are you dead?"
"Miss Su discovered us just as we were about to take action." The secret guard said tremblingly.
Fu Xuechen slowly raised his eyes, his eyes filled with undisguised, almost tangible murderous intent. "How dare a filthy fellow who digs for food in the fields set his sights on her? Go dig out his eyes."
The next day.
While Zheng Feng was out, Su Qingli told her mother about him spying on her. "He's not an honest man. Mother, please don't have anything to do with him anymore."
Mrs. Su's face froze for a moment, and she suddenly looked at Su Qingli with a fierce and critical gaze. Her words were like a poisoned knife, sharp and sour.
"If you weren't born with such a seductive look and didn't know how to behave, would he have stared at you?"
In order to protect a peeping and dirty scoundrel, the mother actually said such words to her.
She looked in disbelief at the woman who gave birth to her.
Her voice trembled slightly with extreme anger and disgust, and every word seemed to be squeezed out from between her teeth: "If you say such things, are you still worthy of being a mother?"
Madam Su stiffened her neck, her face showing an unyielding stubbornness and arrogance. "What? You won't let me tell you the truth? It's not your turn to dictate what's going on in this family! If you don't like it, just leave! No one is begging you to stay!"
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